Senken
by Pumpkin Maximus
Summary: IYYYH Canon, post-manga. KagomexYusuke - After the final battle with Naraku, Kagome developed the "gift" of senken, foresight. Now, whenever she touches someone else's bare skin, she gets a vision of their death. But what if someone has already died?
1. Prologue

I do not own or make a profit from Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihiro Togashi do. :'(

Only the original characters and the plot are mine.

~o~o~o~o~

Prologue

~o~o~o~o~

"Shikon no Tama, I wish you would disappear from this world."

Kagome heaved a great sigh of relief as she was set back down on the dirt ground of the Sengoku Jidai, thankful that the final battle was officially over. Naraku was gone, the Shikon no Tama was banished from this world, and the inu-tachi was celebrating.

Miroku removed the prayer beads from his hand, checking one last time just to make sure, and a wide smile spread across his face as he saw that he was plagued with the kazaana no more. "Naraku is dead," he announced into the silent clearing that was holding its breath in anticipation.

"Finally," Sango sighed, wiping her brow and sending an exhausted smile at her fiance.

"We did it! We did it!" Shippou rejoiced, bounding into his adopted mother's arms with glee.

Kagome was about to laugh at his antics and join in, before a shocking scene scrolled across her vision, lasting only a moment, but causing a lifetime's worth of damage. She would have flung the child away from herself, but luckily for him she kept enough state of mind to simply relinquish her hold on him, dropping him onto the soft dirt.

"Okaa-san?" the kitsune asked quietly, placing a small hand on her leg in worry.

Again, the scene flashed before her eyes. Blood, blood everywhere, soaking soft fur, bright green eyes slowly losing their shine. Kagome stumbled backwards, shocked. By this time, everyone in the clearing had realized that there was something wrong.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, reaching out to touch her arm.

Again, a flash of another place, this time different. Screams of people with unknown identities; hundreds of bare feet scrambling in the same direction, crushing beneath them a broken figure shrouded in red; long, silver hair matted with crimson liquid, covering a deathly pale face.

Kagome jerked away from his hesitant touch, coming back to the present. "Don't touch me," she said quietly, uncertain herself of what was happening.

Inuyasha reached out for her again, thinking she had become delusional after such a stressful battle. "Kago-"

"Don't touch me!" she cut him off, more conviction in her voice this time. Inuyasha stopped, not so much because of the urgency of her tone, but more because of the fear starkly portrayed in her eyes, wildly glancing between himself and the other occupants of the clearing before coming back to stare at her own limbs as though they were an alien entity.

"Kagome, what's the matter?" Sango asked worriedly, taking a step towards her friend but not reaching out as Inuyasha had. She'd already seen that that method would get them no where.

"I-I don't know," Kagome admitted, staring into the eyes of the woman who was more a sister than a friend to her. "I just-Blood. Lots and lots of blood. And people screaming, and running, and..." She trailed off, unable to bring herself to describe any more. Somewhere in her jumbled speech, her hands had found her head, positioning themselves in front of her eyes as though to block out the outside world, though the visions were in her head, she knew.

"You saw this when they touched you?" Miroku asked, scratching his chin in thought as he stared at the distraught woman. She nodded softly. "Must be some sort of vision," he concluded after a moment, nodding to himself as the others turned to look at him.

"Vision? Like a premonition?" Sango asked, looking worriedly at Kagome, who was still shielding her face.

Miroku nodded. "I can't think of what else it may be. She says she saw blood, and though none of us are without injuries, I don't think these wounds could be described as 'lots and lots of blood.' Also, there are no people running and screaming here within our sight, so it must be something that only she can see, which leads me to believe that this is a premonition."

"A premonition of what?" Shippou asked, tilting his head in confusion as he looked to Miroku to solve to puzzle.

"Death," Kagome answered before anyone else could, and all eyes were suddenly on her again. She took a deep breath and brought her face from her hands, staring straight into Inuyasha's eyes forebodingly. "I saw how they're going to die."

~o~o~o~o~

先見

~o~o~

Senken

~o~o~o~o~

So, anyway, this is my new story. ^^ This is just the prologue, but if anyone's interested I'll post the next chapter. I would like at least a couple reviews first, though. -.- And before you read any further, I want to warn everyone that I don't really have any set structure for the plot of this story, though I do plan for it to be KagomexYusuke. So this'll be all over the place. ^^

Also, I don't have the patience to look back at everything I used, but if anyone has any questions as to what the Japanese terms used in this story are, just send me a review and I'll get right back to you on that. ^^

Final note, this is un-beta'd and I plan to keep it that way, but if anyone has any legitimate complaints about my spelling or grammar in the story, please just tell me and I'll fix it right up. ^^ Thanks and enjoy!


	2. Urameshi Yusuke

I do not own or make a profit from Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihiro Togashi do. :'(

Only the original characters and the plot are mine.

~o~o~o~o~

先見

~o~o~

Senken

~o~o~o~o~

Chapter 1

~o~o~

Urameshi Yusuke

~o~o~o~o~

Kagome sighed heavily and hit her head against the back of her wooden chair in frustration. As much as she wanted to get this manuscript out as soon as possible, she just couldn't get any ideas to come to her. Standing, she went to the kitchen to give her fingers a break from typing and get herself a drink.

Walking out onto the patio of her small apartment, she sighed again, leaning against the railing as she looked out on Tokyo City and took a sip of her lemonade. Unbidden, her mind took her on a trip down memory lane. Almost half a year had passed since she had jumped down the well for the last time, unaware that she would be unable to return once she was in the present. _I only wanted to ask Mama for some advice_, she thought sadly, swirling the sugary liquid around in her cup.

But after she had jumped down the Bone-Eater's Well to return herself to the present, a bright flash of light had followed her, accompanied by a strong rush of wind, and when she had attempted to jump back down to discuss things with her friends in the Sengoku Jidai, she had only gained a sprained ankle and a fair portion of confusion for her actions.

In these five months that she had been in the present age, she had figured out what she believed to have happened.

_"Kekeke. Now you'll know my pain, dear miko."_

Those were the last words the gumo-hanyou had uttered before he was no more, and Kagome was sure she finally understood what he meant. Before she had wished for the Shikon no Tama to be no more, he must have made a wish on it as well.

The exact wording or intent of that wish were lost upon her, as she was sure that the twisted, corrupt nature of the jewel at that time had changed its effect, but that wasn't what mattered now. The past had happened, and now she just needed to learn to live with it so that her future could be better than her present, though she highly doubted that was possible.

She saw someone's demise whenever they touched her bare skin; how could she ever hope to live a normal life now?

With one last sigh, Kagome tossed back the rest of her lemonade and went back inside to set the glass on the counter by the sink, grabbing her gloves and coat from the rack by the door, as she planned to go out. She was tired of being holed up in her musty little apartment building, and she was in major need of rice, anyway, so it wasn't like the trip would be completely wasted.

She took a look at herself in the mirror by the doorway, turning to make sure that as much skin as possible was covered. She wore tight-knit leggings underneath a green-and-black plaid miniskirt; a tank top with the image of a cracked heart and the word "Broken" in English on the front, underneath her knee-length olive jacket; long black gloves to keep any piece of her wrists from being open to contact; and a wide-brimmed hat atop her free-flowing midnight tresses, burgundy in color.

Altogether, the image was quite a bleak one, but without much to look forward to in life, Kagome was fine with portraying that image.

The trip was an uneventful one. She walked down the streets of Tokyo, receiving curious glances and scornful murmurs at her attire, which she ignored. She went through the store, finding exactly what she wanted in a matter of minutes and waiting in line at the register, ignoring all the other customers just as she had the gawkers in the streets. After so long, she had gotten used to it.

She bought her rice and went back out of the store, heading towards her apartment once again. _I miss the fresh air_, she thought, looking up at the polluted haze of the sky and comparing it to her memory of the clear blue of the Sengoku Jidai in her mind. She was startled out of her daydreams by the sudden flare of youki she felt coming from the direction of her apartment complex.

_Youkai? Here? Now?_ she thought as she hurried along the sidewalk, brushing past people without apology and trying not to run. She felt for the source again and was nearly knocked off her feet by its strength. _A taiyoukai?_ she thought, a strange feeling twisting her stomach as she thought of the only taiyoukai she knew, Sesshoumaru. She wasn't sure if seeing him would be a relief after all these years or just plain scary. After all, he had had five-hundred years to make himself stronger than he already was when she knew him.

But Kagome's thoughts were interrupted as she came closer and realized that, no, this could not be Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru's aura, though the strongest she had ever felt, was always contained and controlled. Even when his form was no longer humanoid, he still had a tighter leash on his energy than this youkai.

_So, it's someone I don't know?_ Kagome thought in confusion, having reached her floor in the apartment building now. She was surprised to find that the origin of the youki was so close to her room. _Why did I not feel it before?_ she thought, slightly mad at herself for letting this slip her notice. What if this youkai had malicious intent towards ningen?

Setting her rice by her room, she slowly creeped up to the door, standing beside it, on the opposite side that the door would open to just in case someone came storming out. Now that she was paying attention, she could hear the harsh whispers coming from inside the room, seeming as though there was some sort of argument. She knew that tone well. It was the tone someone got after they had been yelling, and had been told to shut up, and now they were trying to keep quiet in their argument.

_Is there a human in there, then?_ Kagome thought in confusion, sensing no other auras besides that of the youkai, which after its initial flare, had calmed down some, though it seemed to be climbing in power once again. The problem with her sixth sense was that she couldn't sense human or animal auras, only youkai, so it was quite difficult to understand what was going on at the moment.

"What's your problem, Yusuke?"

Kagome's ears perked up. They were getting louder again, and she could hear them through the thin wall of the apartment. The voice that had spoken was female. _So, a lover's quarrel, then?_ she thought, almost sighing in relief before she reminded herself that just because someone was involved with a youkai didn't mean they knew the person's true nature.

"What's _your_ problem, Keiko?" came the reply, a male's voice, and the one Kagome assumed was the youkai. Probably because the aura flared once again with his growled words.

Kagome was pondering on intervening-forgetting that she couldn't open the door-not really listening to the two trade insults and spout flaws at each other, when the door suddenly slammed open, making Kagome jump. She only caught a quick glimpse of the passing youkai-gelled-back black hair, lightly tanned skin, a white muscle shirt-before he was gone, and the girl was leaning out of the room, waving her fist and him and yelling, "And don't come back!"

"Wasn't planning on it!" he yelled back before the door to the stairwell closed, leaving the hallway uncomfortably silent as the girl fumed and Kagome tried not to be noticed, which involved not moving, which would eventually get her noticed anyway due to her close proximity to the door.

"Damn men," the girl muttered quietly, still seething as she continued to stare at the path that he had left on, though he was long gone by now.

Kagome nodded in understanding, deciding that this was her best chance to get some information on that youkai without seeming suspicious. "Trust me, I know where you're coming from," she said, causing the other girl to blink in surprise and turn to face her company, not having noticed until then that she had any.

"Ano, excuse me if I sound rude, but who are you?"

Kagome smiled, scratching her cheek awkwardly. "Sorry, I was just passing by when he came out, so..." The girl nodded in understanding, still staring blankly. "Oh, I'm Higurashi Kagome, by the way," she introduced herself, holding out a gloved hand to shake.

"Yukimura Keiko," the other girl introduced herself as well, shaking Kagome's hand with a slight smile, which was returned. "Would you like to come in?"

~o~o~

"... And then he has the nerve to accuse me of trying to change him to fit my image of perfect!" Keiko finished her story with a huff, throwing her hands up into the air in exasperation before bringing them back down to cross over her chest.

Kagome nodded in sympathy, patting the hurting girl on the arm in comfort. "Guys suck," she said simply, making her new friend giggle slightly through her watering eyes and cracking voice, still refusing to cry.

"Definitely," Keiko agreed, nodding and blowing her nose with an offered tissue. "So, now that you know all about my dysfunctional relationship, you mentioned a guy named Inuyasha?" she asked, tired of speaking and interested to her about her new friend's guy troubles, seeing as Kagome had listened to hers.

Said friend sighed heavily, nodding and staring off into the distance to try to think of a way to phrase the story. "I reminded him of an old love he used to have, and after I fell in love with him, he went back to her. But then he couldn't decide, so he kept switching between us. In the end, I had to move away anyway, so the problem was solved, but it was sure a pain in the butt while it was happening," she explained, laughing slightly at her own explanation of her, Inuyasha, and Kikyou's strange love triangle. What she didn't explain was the fact that Kikyou had died, and Inuyasha and Kagome had decided on finally settling down together, before she had been trapped in the present era...

"So, what do you do, Kagome-chan?" Keiko asked, tired of talking about things that hurt their hearts. "You're so young; are you out of high school yet?"

Kagome nodded, thankful for the change in subject. "Yeah, I am. Just graduated this year, actually. Now I write novels full-time, and sometimes freelance for different magazine companies."

"Ooh! That sounds fun. Have I read any of your novels?" Keiko asked, looking to Kagome for the names.

"I don't know; I'm not very popular yet. So far the only book I have out is the first in a trilogy. The trilogy is called _Sengoku no Youkai_, but the novel is titled _Sakura Youkai_. Right now I'm working on the second in the series, _Youkai no Suikawari_. It's a fictional story about youkai in the Sengoku Jidai," Kagome explained, wondering if the mention of youkai would mean anything to this girl.

Keiko's eyes lit up. "Ooh, that sounds interesting. Is it out at the local bookstore?"

The girls talked for a while longer-in which process Kagome learned of Keiko's profession as a teacher at a local elementary school-before both decided that it was long past time for them to get to bed, and Kagome bid her new friend farewell, both with a hope to see the other again soon.

Kagome sighed, flopping back onto the bed. _All right, so far I know that his name is Urameshi Yusuke, he's temperamental, looks like a punk, and he's a little older than me_, Kagome though to herself, trying to sort through the information she had gathered in her head. _Oh, and he doesn't have anywhere to sleep, since he lived with Keiko before she kicked him out_, she added.

A sigh of defeat passed her lips. _That's not going to help me much_. But Kagome was determined to find this man and determine his intentions, whether they be good or bad, and act accordingly. It was so much more interesting than staring blankly at her computer screen while she waited for the thoughts to come to her. A smile on her lips, Kagome changed into her pajamas and lay down on top of her covers, still overheated from wearing her coat for so long, and soon fell asleep dreaming of plans to find this Urameshi Yusuke.

~o~o~o~o~

Hurray for the first chapter! XD Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and favorited and story alerted and such. w I love you guys so much. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep cranking these out-my muse has decided to be kind to me with this story-but I apologize in advance if I take a while on some of them. My computer's been a little wacky lately. Don't say I didn't warn ya. ^^

Now, I don't have the patience to look back at everything I used, but if anyone has any questions as to what the Japanese terms used in this story are, just send me a review and I'll get right back to you on that. ^^

Final note, this is un-beta'd and I plan to keep it that way, but if anyone has any legitimate complaints about my spelling or grammar in the story, please just tell me and I'll fix it right up. ^^ Thanks and enjoy!


	3. Appearances and Opportunities

I do not own or make a profit from Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihiro Togashi do. :'(

Only the original characters and the plot are mine.

~o~o~o~o~

先見

~o~o~

Senken

~o~o~o~o~

Chapter 2

~o~o~

Appearances and Opportunities

~o~o~o~o~

_Of course I would overlook the fact that today was my day at the shrine_, Kagome thought to herself, rolling her eyes as she climbed the stairs of her childhood home. She had moved out soon after graduation-which she was surprised she made it to, she was absent so often-and now came back once a month. And today just so happened to be this month's visitation day.

At the top of the staircase, Kagome mentally congratulated herself for still being able to make it up without a hassle, glad that she was keeping up her physical condition with daily jogs through the park. At least she hadn't let herself turn into a pile of lard since her return from the Sengoku Jidai.

"Kagome-onee-chan!" Souta called, having seen her crest the stairs from where he was juggling his soccer ball next to the Goshinboku. Kagome laughed at her younger brother's endless enthusiasm, catching him in a quick hug that was shielded by her long coat and black gloves. He may have still been three years younger than her, but Souta was already almost a foot taller than his sister, something he liked to tease her about.

"Hey, Souta, nice to see you, too," Kagome said, laughing as she pulled away from his tight embrace.

Souta smiled boyishly at her. "You're late, Kagome. Mama thought you'd forgotten."

"Almost did," Kagome admitted, walking with him to where their mother was standing in the threshold of the front door, watching their greeting with a soft smile. "Ohayo, Mama!" Kagome greeted, giving out another hug, again careful of where her face fell, as that was the greatest expanse of open skin and thus the most likely to come into contact with someone else's bare skin.

"Oh, Kagome, you grow more each time I see you," her mother said, pulling back to look at her daughter's face.

"Mama, it's only been a month," Kagome said, laughing lightly as she pulled out of her mother's appraising hold.

"Did I hear Kagome?" an old voice called from the side of the house, and Kagome turned to see her grandfather coming around from where he was most likely cleaning out the storage shed again.

"Jii-chan!" Kagome exclaimed, running over to hug her grandfather as well. "You're not working yourself to hard, I hope," she said with a smile, remembering the time he threw out his back because he wouldn't sit down and let a former injury heal properly.

Jii-chan puffed out his chest to make himself look more youthful, seeming hurt by the comment. "What do you mean, Kagome-chan? I'm fit as can be! Nothing's gonna get me down anytime soon!"

"Sure, Jii-chan. Sure," Kagome said, waving her hands to placate him. Whatever he wanted to think was fine with her, as long as it made him happy and didn't get himself hurt.

"So, Kagome, where are we going today?" Souta asked, smiling at her with unconfined excitement, reminding her that he was still just a boy on the inside, no matter how big he was outside.

"Well, I was thinking we could go for a walk in the park and then maybe swing by for a movie-" She began to explain her plan for the day before she was interrupted by a small orange blur as it hurled itself at her stomach.

"Kagome!"

Kagome let out a rush of air as the small bundle hurled into her, wrapping her arms around it in surprise. "What the... Shippou?" she exclaimed once he pulled back enough for her to see his face. He nodded happily, tears of joy glistening in his eyes. "When did you get here?" she asked in confusion, completely forgetting her family for the moment, even as they stared at her and the small kitsune in her arms in apt wonder.

"I didn't know when you would be back, so I've been coming once a year since the shrine was built. A couple times I almost ran into you before you were supposed to know me; that would have been bad. But counting back, it's been five-hundred years since we beat Naraku, so you know me now, right?" he asked, out of breath from his quick explanation.

Kagome laughed and nodded, tears glistening in her eyes as well. "Yeah, Shippou, I know you," she said, hugging him tightly again.

"Ano, Kagome?" her mother asked after a moment, feeling like an intruder on their reunion.

"Oh, right!" Kagome exclaimed, remembering that her family had never met Shippou before. She turned to smile at them and began the introductions. "Mama, Souta, Jii-chan, this is my adopted son from the Sengoku Jidai, Shippou. Shippou, this is my family," she said, smiling at them all.

Mama gasped. "So this is the infamous Shippou!" she exclaimed, grabbing the kitsune from his mother's arms. Shippou gulped, waiting for her verdict. All was still, until-"He's so cute!" Shippou would have sighed in relief if it weren't for the fact that Mama's hug had squashed all the air from his lungs.

"Ano, Mama, I don't think he can breathe," Kagome said, holding out her hands awkwardly, not really knowing what to do with them.

"Oops, sorry, Shippou-kun," Mama apologized, pulling away slightly as Shippou gasped for air.

Souta raised an eyebrow at him, studying the small fox. "How come he's so tiny?" he asked. "I thought he was over five-hundred years old."

"I am!" Shippou said, slightly miffed at being called tiny. "I'm just not a very large breed of fox."

Kagome nodded. "That would make sense," she said, noting the subtle differences in his appearance. He was maybe half a foot taller than he was in the Sengoku Jidai-skinnier, too-and his tail had split into five, becoming more slender as well, with a slight touch of black at the tips. His hair, though still the same shade of orange-brown, was longer now, pulled into a high pony-tail on top of his head, much like Kouga had worn his all the times Kagome had seen him in the Sengoku Jidai. Finally, his ears were now situated on top of his head, much like Inuyasha's had been, though they were larger in proportion to the rest of his body.

"That reminds me, where is Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, smiling innocently at the little fox.

Shippou sighed deeply and suggested that they go inside to continue their conversation, the first sign that something was wrong.

~o~o~

Kagome stared at the wall of the kitchen, unwilling to comprehend what Shippou had just told her._ Inuyasha is... dead?_

"_He died fighting a demon that was trying to destroy Kaede's village."_

That matched her premonition of all the people screaming, running over his broken body from some unknown threat. The rest of her family was subdued, all in similar states of disbelief. Souta was holding back tears; the hanyou was his hero in more ways than one. It was almost as hard for him to hear as it was for Kagome.

"I'm sorry, Okaa-san. I was away training when it happened, and didn't hear how he went until a year later," Shippou finished his story with a quiet apology, staring down at his hands in his lap.

"That..." Kagome paused for a moment to swallow, attempting to regain her voice. "That's okay, Shippou. It's how he was meant to go. Thanks for telling me." She smiled kindly at him, and he nodded, though he still felt slightly responsible. Everyone lulled into a stunned silence for a moment, trying to comprehend everything that had just been said.

"Excuse me, is anyone here?"

Everyone jumped at the voice, as it came from outside the house. "A visitor?" Mama said to no one in particular, surprised, standing and walking to the door to open it for the newcomer. The rest of the table migrated to follow her, not wanting to marinate in sadness any longer.

"Hello, young man, what can I do for you today?" Mama asked at the door as her children moved to poke their heads around her body, staring out curiously at the newcomer. Shippou stayed in the kitchen, as his ears and tails were pretty much a dead giveaway that he wasn't human, and Jii-chan disappeared to somewhere.

"Ano, sorry to intrude on you like this, but I'm kinda lost," the teenager said, scratching his cheek as he smiled sheepishly. He had his hair slicked back much like that youkai-Yusuke-had when Kagome had seen him in the hall, but his hair was closer to the color of Shippou's. His face was long and angular, and he stood tall in the doorway, clothed in jeans and a white muscle shirt.

_Okay, this is eerily familiar_, Kagome thought, watching as her mother smiled and offered the man inside of a drink, since he looked quite tired. He accepted gratefully and, after introducing himself as Kuwabara Kazuma, came into the house.

_Wait, Shippou's still in the kitchen!_ Kagome remembered at the last moment, just as they turned to corner and walked into said room, where the kitsune was still sitting atop the kitchen table. _Well, shi-_

"Hey, that guy's got ears!" Kuwabara exclaimed, pointing at Shippou, who was startled out of a daydream by the sudden exclamation. He jumped up in surprise, said ears twitching at the noise as he looked back and forth for an escape route, knowing that the damage was already done.

_Well, too late now to say he's a stuffed animal_, Kagome thought wryly, feeling a sweat drop drip down her face as she held up her hands to placate Kuwabara, who looked about ready to jump poor Shippou. "Don't worry about that, Kuwabara-san. He's my little brother. He likes to dress up a lot."

"No way that kid's your little brother; his aura's all demonic!" Kuwabara said, still pointing, and Kagome almost smacked herself in the forehead. _Of all the people to wander off the street, of all the days to have a visitor...,_ she sighed to herself mentally.

"I'm sorry, you must be mistaken, Kuwabara-san, Shippou isn't-"

"Like hell he ain't!" the teenager exclaimed, forming an energy sword in his hand. _Oh, crap_, Kagome thought, seriously starting to worry now. "Don't worry, I'll protect you from that conniving kitsune!" And with that, he charged the fox demon, who promptly zipped out of the way and threw himself into Kagome's arms. He had gained many skills over the years-one of which being the new speed that he had just exhibited-but he knew that now was not the time to show off, especially on a ningen.

"Okaa-san!" he cried, playing up the "innocent child" act, though he was far beyond that state of mind now.

Kagome patted the boy on the head, tickling his ears slightly and looking up to see a very confused Kuwabara, energy sword still in hand. "Ano, Kuwabara-san, this is Shippou-kun, my adopted son," she said hesitantly, motioning to the little kitsune in her arms and hoping that another attack was not soon in coming.

Kuwabara seemed to be processing this for a moment. "But... you live at a shrine," he stated, confused. "Aren't you s'pposed to hate youkai?"

Kagome sighed, partially in relief that he didn't seem poised to attack anymore and partially out of exasperation at the question she had heard so often before. "Yes, I suppose miko are supposed to hate youkai, but I don't think they're all evil-no, I know they aren't all evil-so I like to give second chances," she said with a smile, continuing to pet Shippou's head lovingly.

Kuwabara nodded numbly, calling off his energy sword as he took a step closer to them to study Shippou more closely. Said youkai gulped under his appraising eyes and waved a small hand nervously. "All right, you pass!" Kuwabara announced, startling everyone.

"Excuse me, what?" Mama asked, stepping forward with her head cocked in confusion.

"I'll let 'im live," Kuwabara clarified, and the rest gave a sigh of relief.

"Well, now that that's cleared up, where are you trying to get to, Kuwabara-san?" Kagome asked, smiling at him kindly.

"I'm tryin' to find a guy named Urameshi Yusuke; you seen him around here?"

Kagome gasped slightly at the name. "Urameshi Yusuke?" she asked, making sure she had heard right.

Kuwabara nodded. "You know him?"

"Sort of," Kagome said, giving a sheepish smile. "I have a bit of a mission to find him. So, will you help me? Two brains are better then one, they say," she prompted, looking at Kuwabara with eager eyes.

"Well, I-" Before he could answer properly, Kagome's grandfather burst back into the kitchen, having been absent since the doorbell rang, and plastered a sutra on Shippou's head, giving his most infamous line:

"Evil demon, begone!"

"_Jii-chan!_"

~o~o~o~o~

Phew! I got it done. -.- Sorry if there are more mistakes than usual in this chapter; I didn't have a ton of time to edit it. On that same note, I may have to take longer to get the chapters out from now on, seeing as I'm currently on a very tight schedule to finish my novel, get it edited, and send it to the publishers. -.- So please forgive me.

On another note, hurrah for Shippou! XD Yes, he's still pretty tiny, and that's because he's a small breed of fox, as stated. Betcha can't guess what breed. XD I'll give ya a hint, it doesn't live in Japan.

Also, hurrah for Kuwabara! XD I was bored so there he is. I hope I wrote his character okay; he's not a very easy guy to write. If anyone has any comments or suggestions, just drop me a review. ^^

Now, I don't have the patience to look back at everything I used, but if anyone has any questions as to what the Japanese terms used in this story are, just send me a review and I'll get right back to you on that. ^^

Final note, this is un-beta'd and I plan to keep it that way, but if anyone has any legitimate complaints about my spelling or grammar in the story, please just tell me and I'll fix it right up. ^^ Thanks and enjoy!

Wow, long author's note. XD


	4. She's Gone

I do not own or make a profit from Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihiro Togashi do. :'(

Only the original characters and the plot are mine.

~o~o~o~o~

先見

~o~o~

Senken

~o~o~o~o~

Chapter 3

~o~o~

She's Gone

~o~o~o~o~

"So _where_ are we going again?" Kagome asked just to have something to talk about as she and Kuwabara climbed the mile-long staircase, which was no exaggeration. Kagome was surprised that someone would even _want_ all these steps, much less be able to afford them. They literally dwarfed her family shrine's staircase, which her friends in high school had always told her was impractically long. _Oh, if only they could see this monster_, Kagome thought to herself with a small smirk. _They'd probably have a heart attack._

_I bet Shippou could make it up without even breaking a sweat_, Kagome mused, smiling at the thought of her teenage son. He may not look it, as small as he was, but he had explained that five-hundred years was about the time it took for his species of kitsune to reach puberty, so if his age were to be calculated in human terms, he would be about sixteen now, seeing as he had been alive for about a hundred or so years before Kagome found him in the Sengoku Jidai.

_He still acts like a little kid, though_, Kagome thought, remembering how much he had wanted to come with her on this little expedition today. Unfortunately, he had remembered that today was Friday, and as such, he had a job in the city. Turns out, Shippou was able to keep his kitsune appearance and continue to cast illusions under the guise of a famous magician, as long as he covered up most of his aura so that people who had a strong sixth sense but didn't know about youkai wouldn't get suspicious. Who would've guessed?

"Higurashi-san! Higurashi-san, are you listening to me?" Kuwabara called, seeming as though he had been trying to gain her attention for quite some time now.

"Woops! Sorry, Kuwabara-san, what did you say?" Kagome asked, turning her head to smile sheepishly at him.

Kuwabara just rolled his eyes and shook his head at her. "Are you sure you're up to this, Higurashi-san? We could always come back tomorrow or something," he offered.

"No, I'm fine," Kagome insisted. "I just didn't get much sleep last night." It was the truth. She'd been too busy worrying about how Keiko was doing and if she would really find Urameshi Yusuke today and what she would say to him and how in the world the main characters in her book were going to escape the evil youkai's assassins. Through all that, she had come to the conclusion that she needed _much_ more coffee if she was to be expected to have a normal thought process that late at night. Translation: She accomplished nothing.

Kuwabara just nodded absently, watching her curiously out of the corner of his eye. Even if he did refuse to take her any further now, she would most likely forsake his guidance and go it on her own. Scratch that, Kagome would definitely find Yusuke, with or without his help.

"So, are we there yet?" Kagome asked after a moment, feeling awkward in the sudden silence.

Kuwabara looked up the near never-ending flight of stairs, noticing that he could almost make out the shape of the torii that stood guard at the front of the shrine. "Kinda. I can see the entrance now, at least."

"Really?" Kagome asked excitedly, squinting as she looked at the gateway to the shrine in the distance. "We're getting closer! Hey, I'll race you to the top!" she challenged, not wasting any time as she began to take the steps two at a time, smiling and glancing back over her shoulder at a confused-looking Kuwabara. Now that she had something to live for again-even if it was just to track down her new friend's runaway fiance-Kagome's outlook on the world had brightened considerably, and she couldn't just let all that new energy stored up inside of her go to waste.

"You're on!" Kuwabara accepted, taking the steps _three_ at a time as he charged after her. Ascending at this ever-increasing pace, they made it to the torii in record time, leaning over with their hands on their knees to support themselves as they panted from exertion.

Kagome smiled up at her guide, having used up much of her energy but feeling even better for it. "I'd call that a tie, wouldn't you, Kuwabara-san?" she asked.

They laughed together for another moment before realizing that they had company. "Yukina!" Kuwabara cried, running up to greet the girl as Kagome stayed behind to study the newcomer. She had a kind face, framed by long, teal hair, and wore an ice blue kimono with a dark violet obi. As Kagome neared the two-trading greetings and friendly smiles-she noticed something peculiar about the girl's appearance.

Her eyes were red. Not red like she had seen before on other youkai-and she knew this girl was a youkai; she could feel it-but calmer somehow. It was not the red of bloodlust, but more the red of compassion, and Kagome thought it fit her overall appearance quite well.

"Higurashi-san!" Kagome was pulled from her inspection by Kuwabara's voice as he motioned for her to join them. She strode over to the pair, smiling at the other girl, who looked to be slightly shy, but curious about this new arrival. "This is Yukina. Yukina, this is Higurashi Kagome-san."

Kagome bowed slightly in greeting. "Konnichiwa, Yukina-san. It's nice to meet you," she said, holding out her hand to shake in greeting.

Again, the girl-demon looked hesitant-_She can probably sense my mikoki._-but she reached out anyway and shook hands with the girl who was supposed to be her kind's mortal enemy. "Konnichiwa, Higurashi-san. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said in a steady, sweet voice. It made Kagome smile instinctively.

"Yukina, have you seen Genkai around here? We need to talk to her..." Kagome tuned out Kuwabara and Yukina's chatter as she felt out over the grounds for the youki she was looking for. Kuwabara had said that Genkai owned practically the whole mountain, so she had a lot of ground to cover.

_Minor youkai; minor youkai; minor youkai; taiyoukai, but that's not his aura; minor; minor; tai, and again, wrong aura. Gah! How many youkai does this Genkai have on her property, anyway?_ Kagome thought in exasperation, sighing heavily.

"Is something the matter, Higurashi-san?" Yukina asked from where she was standing a little ways away, having heard the girl's sigh.

Kagome shook her head. "I just can't seem to find the youkai I'm looking for, and his aura seemed too out-of-control for him to know how to hide it, so..." She shrugged. "I guess he's not here. Back to square one, then."

"Well, we don't know that," Kuwabara said. "I mean, you can't sense _all_ the way to the edge of the property, right? So we should at least go check..."

Kuwabara trailed off as Kagome shook her head. "No, I _can_ sense that far, and I can't find him _any_-" Suddenly, there was a new aura on the property, and it gave her pause. _It couldn't be, could it?_ She was still, studying the aura for a moment as it rushed towards them from the northern edge of the property, over the mountain. _It has to be. I've never felt so much raw power before in anyone else..._

"-san! Higurashi-san! Jeez, is this gonna be a regular thing with you?"

Kagome came back to the present, realizing that Kuwabara was calling her, probably had been for quite some time now, and was reaching out to shake her shoulder to try and jolt her back to reality. She shied away from the touch instinctively, though she was wearing her long coat once again. It was just a habit now.

Noticing her recoil from his touch, Kuwabara pulled his hand back. "What's the matter?" he asked instead. "I've been calling your name for a minute an' a half."

Kagome shook her head, as though clearing the last vestiges of sleep from her brain. "No, I'm fine," she said, smiling and turning to face the mountain, which the aura had now stopped at the peak of. "I think I just found our man."

~o~o~

"Are you _sure_ he's up there, Higurashi-san?" Kuwabara asked for the twentieth time since they had started their trek, now halfway up the mountain.

Kagome nodded, feeling out his aura once more just to quadruple-check. "Yup, that's definitely the same aura," she commented, looking back at the man who was supposed to be leading her. "Can you not sense him yet?"

Kuwabara shook his head. "I've got a strong sixth sense, but not _that_ strong." Kagome rolled her eyes at him, huffing as she put one foot in front of the other on the barely discernible path ahead of them. _Believe me, I wish he wasn't_, she thought, hoping Yusuke would decide to be reasonable and come down the mountain to talk to them so that they didn't have to walk all the way up to meet him. It wasn't like it would cost him much energy. He was a friggin' taiyoukai, for goodness sake!

"Higurashi-san, why don't we just wait here for a little bit?" Kuwabara suggested, looking at the little stream that ran beside their path. "Even if he doesn't come down, we can just get some water at least."

Kagome sighed and stopped in her trek, turning to look at the stream longingly. _Well, we wouldn't want to get dehydrated_, she reasoned, walking over to look into the clear water. "Do you think it's even safe to drink?" she asked, not seeing any visible signs of uncleanliness, but you never did know, she reminded herself.

Kuwabara shrugged, following her to the stream's edge, just happy to have stopped. "Dunno. Can't you purify it or anything?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "If only things were that easy," she muttered, leaning down to dip one hand into the cool, flowing liquid. _If things were that easy, then I wouldn't have to shoot arrows to purify youkai, or make barriers to protect myself instead of fighting with everyone else..._ Her thought trailed off, sadness seeping back into her mind.

"Wait a second, you're a miko, right?" Kagome nodded, not looking up. Wasn't that kind of obvious from the fact that she lived on a shrine and had a holy aura? "Then what do you want with Urameshi?"

This time, Kagome did look up, raising one eyebrow at her companion. _He _just now_ realized that I could potentially kill the man we're looking for?_ "I told you, I have a self-commissioned quest to find him."

"Why? You gonna purify 'im?" Kuwabara asked, immediately taking up a defensive stance.

Kagome shook her head, standing to fully face the teen. "No, I want to-"

"Wait! Something's wrong with Yukina!" And with that, Kuwabara was barreling down the mountain, former exhaustion forgotten. Kagome stared for a moment, blinking in surprise at his sudden departure, then laughed lightly. _Wow, he's really smitten_, she thought, giving up on the idea of drinking from the stream and continuing on up the mountain.

It took her another hour and a half to reach to top of the mountain, and Kagome paused just before the break in the trees to catch her breath, trying to look more professional. _Okay, maybe daily walks in the park aren't enough to keep you in shape to climb mountains_, she thought tiredly, wiping the sweat from her forehead before walking forward to face the taiyoukai.

It was definitely him. He was still wearing the same white muscle shirt, midnight hair still slicked back with gel, lightly tanned skin gleaming in the unobstructed light of the afternoon sun. He was sitting on one of the large boulders and stood guard along the edges of a small lake, staring at something he held in his hands. He didn't even look up when she entered the clearing, though she knew that he would have been able to smell her before she got this far, anyway, probably sense her aura, as well.

"Urameshi-san," Kagome said hesitantly, slowly making her way across the clearing towards him. He wasn't that far away, so it wasn't long before she could hear what he had been whispering to himself over and over.

"She's gone. She's really gone," he murmured, staring at the engagement ring he held tenderly in his hands.

~o~o~o~o~

Ha, I think the best part about this chapter is that, right as I finished writing it, She's Gone by Super Junior came on. XD Sad song for a sad chapter, but it'll get better again! Don't know how soon, but it'll get better! XD

Anyway, sorry for the suckishness of this one. It's kind of a transition chapter, so I didn't really know what to do with it. Next chapter there'll be more action and stuff. ^^

Anyway (again), since I'm going to busy for most of the day today and probably into the night, I decided I'd post this chapter up early for you guys, since you're just that awesome. XD All of your reviews inspire me to keep writing. So please give me some more! XD

Now, I don't have the patience to look back at everything I used, but if anyone has any questions as to what the Japanese terms used in this story are, just send me a review and I'll get right back to you on that. ^^

Final note, this is un-beta'd and I plan to keep it that way, but if anyone has any legitimate complaints about my spelling or grammar in the story, please just tell me and I'll fix it right up. ^^ Thanks and enjoy!

Wow, another long author's note. XD


	5. The Camel's Back

I do not own or make a profit from Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihiro Togashi do. :'(

Only the original characters and the plot are mine.

~o~o~o~o~

先見

~o~o~

Senken

~o~o~o~o~

Chapter 4

~o~o~

The Camel's Back

~o~o~o~o~

"Urameshi-san," Kagome said quietly, slowly stepping closer to him.

He didn't seem to hear her, just continued to repeat to himself the chant of, "She's gone. She's really gone."

_Poor guy_, Kagome thought, stopping when she stood by his side. _He really loved her. But... he messed it up._ With a sigh, she placed a gloved hand on the young youkai's shoulder comfortingly, feeling awkward touching someone after going for almost half a year being so careful not to. Still, she had her gloves on, and her coat was long-sleeved, so she should be fine, right?

"I'm sorry," she whispered quietly, not knowing what else to say. What else _was_ there to say? _Well, your relationship's screwed, but cheer up! There are plenty of other girls out there!_ Yeah, that definitely didn't sound too consoling.

As it was, he didn't even seem to appreciate her sympathy. "Sorry? You're _sorry?_ Well, a lot of good _that's _ gonna do me!" he exploded, turning to face her with angry brown eyes. "That's not going to make her come back! Kami, she was my only reason for sticking around anymore," he finished quietly, making Kagome stare at him in surprise.

_Is he going to try to commit suicide?_ "T-Then you'll just have to find a new reason! Come on, life can't be that bad, can it?" she said desperately, trying to reason with him. She had seen far too much death in her life to let someone purposefully choose that path without putting up a good fight.

Yusuke just shook his head; his outburst seemed to have drained all the energy from him. "I don't know if I can," he said quietly, pushing a hand through his black locks in hopelessness.

"Well, what do you like to do?" she prompted. "Surely you have a hobby or something that you'd like to stick around for."

He didn't even bother to shrug, and his response was late in coming. "I fight," he said simply, wrapping his fist around the ring in his hand and supporting his head with it.

Kagome's eyes brightened. It may not have been the kind of hobby she was looking for, but it was something, at least. "Okay, that's a start," she said, squeezing his shoulder comfortingly. "Why don't you enter a competition or something like that? I don't know very much about fighting, but training for that would keep your mind off of other things, right?" Weren't there more strong youkai out there for him to fight? Maybe they had some sort of organized tournament he could participate in?

Yusuke shook his head. "Can't. Already past that," he replied tersely again, not even taking the time to consider it.

Kagome was taken aback. Did he mean he had beaten all of the fighting competitions in Japan? Or that he considered himself too good to even attempt something so elementary? "O-Okay," Kagome said, just a second too late. "Then..." She trailed off, trying to think of something else.

"At least if I went over there I could always fight Yomi again or something," he said to himself, not seeming to realize that Kagome was still there and had absolutely _no_ clue what he was talking about. _Is he going mad?_ she thought, somehow doubting the idea before it was even halfway formed. He didn't seem like the kind that would easily succumb to insanity.

"Well, how about this," Kagome said after another long pause, not knowing what else to do. "What if I helped you try to get her back? If I asked her, we could talk about what went wrong and then you could try to fix it..." She trailed off, not knowing if that idea would be seen more as helpful or offensive.

She waited for him to respond. Seconds ticked by. A minute passed, then another, and another. Just as she had given up on him answering her, and was about to sigh and suggest something else, Yusuke spoke: "Why would she listen to you?" he asked skeptically, but Kagome could tell that he was finally interested.

She smiled gratefully and answered his question. "She and I became fast friends a little while ago. We're due for a little girls' talk, anyway."

Yusuke lifted his head from where it was still propped against his fisted hand, opening it to stare at the small band once again. "And you think that'll work?"

"I can't guarantee anything, but I think it will definitely help for you to each see the other's side of the story," she said, wishing there had been someone to work out the kinks between her and Inuyasha when they had fought.

There was another long pause while Yusuke deliberated, and Kagome waited patiently at his side. Realizing that she was still touching him, though indirectly, Kagome quickly removed her hand from his shoulder, shoving it into the pocket of her coat. She was still fairly confident that no unnecessary skin was showing, but she didn't feel like taking chances, especially since youkai deaths tended to be more violent than human deaths in her experience.

He let out a long sigh, letting Kagome know that he had decided something. "Well, it's worth a shot," he commented, standing and placing the engagement ring in his pants pocket.

Kagome smiled again, glad that she had another new mission in life. Just like him, she realized; they were both lacking in a reason to live besides simply for their families, and now they both had one in this adventure. "All right. We can talk things over on the walk down. You are coming down, right?" she asked, not wanted to seem presumptuous.

Yusuke nodded absently. "Yeah, I need to talk to Kuwabara."

Kagome smiled to cover up her surprise at his comment. She had completely forgotten about Kuwabara! She highly doubted that he had forgotten their former argument, and she was cautious to see how he would react to seeing her and Yusuke _not_ fighting each other to the death. Would he assume a ruse? Maybe it was best to warn Yusuke before they got close.

But he spoke first, cutting off her thought. "So, what's your name?" he asked, beginning to trek towards the trees where Kagome had first emerged in this clearing.

"Oh, Higurashi Kagome," she responded, just then realizing that he didn't even really know her. "My room is across the hall from yo - Keiko's in the apartment building," she explained, just managing to catch herself before she said "yours" in reference to the room that he no longer lived in.

He didn't even acknowledge her slip, just nodded as they slipped downhill. "Ya probably already know who I am, then," he commented dryly, still seeming like his mind wasn't completely on their conversation at the moment.

Kagome nodded wearily, somewhat concerned at what he was thinking about. "Yes, you're Urameshi Yusuke-san," she supplied, narrowly missing cartwheeling the rest of the way down the hill as she tripped over a stray root, catching herself against a steady tree trunk. _Well, that was close_, Kagome thought, noticing that Yusuke's hand had reached out to try and catch her should she need it. Though it was comforting that he wasn't so out of it that he would let her tumble down the hill, the prospect of him touching her scared her more than doing just that.

It was a very silent descent, as Kagome could tell that Yusuke just needed some time to think right now. And she wasn't even his friend yet - more of a convenient ally - so she didn't consider herself privy to his internal conflicts. The only thing that broke the near silence was the sound of them shuffling down the loose dirt decline, the miko more noisily than her youkai companion, and the handful of times when she almost went tumbling down the hill. Again. One of those times she even had to have Yusuke come to her rescue, which brought her precariously close to coming into contact with his bare skin, thus igniting her "foresight."

After what seemed like _forever_ - though it was probably just the profound lack of noise that followed them throughout their journey that made it seem that way - the mismatched duo finally made it to the bottom of the mountain and back to Genkai's shrine, where of course, the inevitable happened.

"Urameshi!"

Kagome cringed as she saw Kuwabara marching towards them, clearly intent on getting some answers. "Um, I've gotta go... work. Meet me at noon at the Torayuuki cafe, 'kay?" she explained quickly, scurrying out of range of Kuwabara's wrath, though she could hear him begin the interrogation behind her as she scampered down the mile-long flight of stairs.

At the bottom of the long staircase, though, she met... someone else. The person was short, extremely, with long, wavy pink hair flowing around her wrinkly face and down her back. _Um, okay_, Kagome thought, wondering who was missing a hobbit. "Um, excuse me," she said to the newcomer, smiling sheepishly as she swerved around the person to head for the train station.

But as she passed, Kagome felt a firm tap on her cheek and, upon realizing that the nostalgic sensation was the feel of someone else's flesh meeting her own, she gasped and waited for the images. But... there were none. Turning to look at the strange woman that was apparently immune to the effects of her "foresight," Kagome found her standing a few stairs above, staring contemplatively down at the young woman.

"Hm, I thought it was you, miko," she said in a slightly gravelly voice, making Kagome blink in surprise. Was this person like Kuwabara, with a strong sixth sense? But then, why did she touch her?

So many unanswered questions, though one of them disappeared as the woman stated, just before turning and heading up the stairs at a speed Kagome would have thought inhuman if she hadn't already seen Kuwabara run when Yukina was in trouble: "What an odd place to find the long-lost Shikon Miko, on my own youkai-infested property."

So, that told her who the old woman was: Genkai. But... how did she know about the Shikon Miko? The myth would be dead in this time if it weren't for the Higurashi Shrine keeping it alive for self-promotion purposes. But, more importantly, how did Genkai know that she was the Shikon Miko? A miko, yes, but how could she tell that Kagome was specifically _that_ miko?

Kagome shook her head of her unproductive thoughts, going back to heading for the train station that she had arrived in. She would talk to Keiko tonight, get her take on the story, and then hopefully get to work on hers. Maybe.

~o~o~

"I just couldn't stand it anymore! You know that proverb about the one piece of straw that broke the camel's back? Well, that's pretty much what happened. At first, I understood that his job would keep him away from home a lot, and I was okay with that. But after a while... I want to be able to experience my marriage, you know? And he's such a jerk! You heard us arguing the other day. Even if we did get married, we'd only grow apart while he's gone and then fight when he gets back home."

Kagome nodded sympathetically, having been listening silently throughout the whole explanation. She had concluded throughout this ordeal that Keiko didn't know that her former boyfriend was a youkai, mainly because she didn't seem at all worried about upsetting him and setting off a youkai rampage, which most humans would be terrified of. Heck, even she, the Shikon Miko, was frightened just thinking of what a youkai of his caliber could do to a human while enraged.

"Kagome-chan? Kagome-chan! Hey, you were daydreaming there for a second. Are you back with us now?" Keiko asked, a bit of a smile hinting in her voice.

Kagome shook her head, realizing that she had, in fact, been daydreaming, and blushed as she pulled herself out of it. "Sorry, Keiko-chan. I should probably get more sleep," she said sheepishly, remembering the restless night that had preceded this long day, which had only fatigued her even more.

Keiko shook her head admonishingly at her new friend. "You're going to get sick if you keep doing that," she warned, and Kagome smiled sheepishly again.

"I know, I know. I just have trouble falling asleep sometimes." _More than sometimes_, she thought to herself, thinking of how many nights she had lied awake thinking about her lost family in the feudal era, or the strange curse that Naraku had placed on her, or, more recently, Inuyasha's death and how she was going to cope with it. That one she chose to ignore for the most part. If she pretended like it didn't happen, the knowledge of what she had lost couldn't hurt her, right?

"Kagome-chan! Jeez, you're going to bed right now, missy. Look at you! You're half asleep already!"

Kagome blinked out of her stupor again to find Keiko standing and ready to offer her an arm to steady her as they walked back to her room across the hall. "No, I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Keiko-chan. Really, I'm not even -" she was interrupted by a loud yawn " - tired."

"Uh-huh," Keiko said disbelievingly, helping her sleepy friend to stand and walking her to the door.

"W-Wait!" Kagome protested even as she was drug across the room to Keiko's front door. "We haven't finished talking! You know Urameshi-san was going to propose to you, right?" Kagome asked, looking for something to stop her friend's momentum.

And it worked. Keiko stopped right in front of her door, looking down at her tired friend curiously. "Kagome-chan, how would you - Oh, never mind. I should have guessed that he would send spies, though you weren't someone I would suspect." Keiko shook her head of her thoughts, getting back to the matter at hand.

"Yes, Kagome-chan, I know he was going to propose to me. He did, and that's when everything finally came out. It feel horrible about it, waiting until he had taken that step to let him down, but it's better than entering a bad relationship, right? He actually came back again - hard-head that he is - because he didn't get my message the first time. I actually feel really bad for him, but I'm sure he'll find someone more suited to him and his lifestyle in time."

Kagome listened silently, scrunching up her brow to concentrate on what the school teacher was saying. "So, he proposed to you twice?" Keiko nodded. "And you turned him down both times?" Another nod. "I understand that you're mad at him for never being around, and yelling a little bit, but... maybe you could try to work it out? Just one last time?"

Keiko shook her head with a sad smile. "No, I need to make a clean break. Besides, I already have a prior commitment."

"What?" Kagome asked, not understanding what the other woman was implying through her drowsiness. Maybe she was speaking in code?

"My mom set me up on a blind date as soon as she found out. I'm going out tomorrow night."

~o~o~o~o~

_YES! _XD I finally finished it! Sorry about that, guys; I was busy with other projects and then writer's block struck _hard_ but I'm back now, and this chap's 457 words longer than my previous longest, so that's something, right? X'D

Anyway, many thanks to sailorsun118 who _finally_ kicked me out of my funk and helped me find the motivation to get the last half of this chapter written and edited. XD Love ya, sis.

Now, I don't have the patience to look back at everything I used, but if anyone has any questions as to what the Japanese terms used in this story are, just send me a review and I'll get right back to you on that. ^^

Final note, this is un-beta'd and I plan to keep it that way, but if anyone has any legitimate complaints about my spelling or grammar in the story, please just tell me and I'll fix it right up. ^^ Thanks and enjoy!

Oh, and last thing! No one's guessed what kind of fox Shippou is yet! XD Here's your hints:

1) He's _not_ a Fennec fox.

2) The species is native to central North America.

3) Its genus is "vulpes." XD


	6. So Sure

I do not own or make a profit from Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihiro Togashi do. :'(

Only the original characters and the plot are mine.

~o~o~o~o~

先見

~o~o~

Senken

~o~o~o~o~

Chapter 5

~o~o~

So Sure

~o~o~o~o~

Kagome awoke promptly at six AM the next morning. _Habit_, she thought absently, yawning widely and rubbing the sleep out of the eyes. It was amazing; she actually felt rested. Probably because she couldn't remember dreaming last night. She must have just collapsed and laid like a corpse until morning.

Whatever. That wasn't what mattered right now. What mattered was getting some food into her stomach and heading over to her computer to start on the three articles she had to have finished within the week for a local history magazine. At least she had work, no matter how absolutely frustrating it was, which meant she was getting _some_ income, anyway.

Yawning again and stretching the cricks out of her back, Kagome rolled out of bed and walked into her small kitchen, placing a teakettle on the stove and heating up some water for her morning caffeine. Next she opened her refrigerator (having only a pitcher of water, a gallon of milk, and a bowl of old spaghetti) and then her cupboards (housing her single bag of rice from a few days before and three bowls of instant ramen). All right, then, tea and ramen it was.

She made her cup ramen and poured some hot water over her chosen bag of tea in a glass, taking the two items over to her work desk as she blew away the steam. Setting them down on the desk, she booted up her computer and walked into her bedroom to change into a long-sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans. Then she went back to the kitchen to grab herself a fork.

She checked her email first, having only one message from her mother's email address, which actually turned out to be Shippou saying hi and telling her his own email. That made Kagome smile slightly, and she quickly replied with a string of hearts and smiley faces and saved the address to her contacts. He would be working again today, as it was Saturday and he had a weekend show going on downtown, but he promised to come see her later that night so that they could finally have some quality time to talk and get reacquainted. She had missed so much of her adopted son's childhood; now she was hoping she could make up for it.

But after she was finished with that, it was time to get to work. She started on the article that documented the lives of taijiya in the Sengoku Jidai. It would be a little difficult for her to write about, knowing that she would never see her soul-sister again, but at least she knew that the woman had grown old happily with the man of her dreams. Unlike herself...

Kagome shook her head. Now was no time for thoughts such as these. She needed to focus. She typed furiously, devoting her entire being to her work and drowning herself in it to keep from thinking of anything else, anything potentially painful.

The three page article was done, fully edited, and placed in an email draft to send to her boss once she had finished all three articles before eight o'clock. At the pace she was going, she would have everything done and sent before lunchtime. She took a break to eat her ramen and drink her tea, which she had forgotten about completely while she had been working, and were now cold.

After placing her now-empty glass in the sink, filling it with water, and throwing away her garbage, Kagome headed back over to her computer, only to find that she had a new email. It was from Shippou. Apparently, he was in between shows at the moment, and wanted to talk to her for a while. Kagome obliged with a smile, typing back a quick "Hey" and "How's the show going?" before she went back to her next article, on Buddhist monks in the Sengoku Jidai.

They went back and forth like that for a while - a couple hours, maybe - before Kagome finished her second article and Shippou had to go back to work. She was so proud of him, five-hundred-fifty and all grown up. _Ooh, that would make a good novel title_, she thought, quickly writing it down and thinking up different ways she could fit that into her current trilogy.

The clock struck eleven - or more like Kagome looked down at the time in the corner of her computer screen - and the diligent author decided that it was time to get something for lunch. Hn, lunch. Why did it feel like she was forgetting something that had to do with lunchtime? It wasn't her day to go to the shrine - she just had two days ago. She didn't need to go to the store - she did that the day before her shrine visit.

So what was so danged important that she had forgotten about lunchtime to -

"Kagome-chan?" a soft voice called through her apartment door, accompanied by a hesitant knock, pulling her from her thoughts. "Do you have any shoes I can wear that would go with a blue dress? I don't have any to wear for my date tonight and I really don't want to go buy some just for one day..."

Ah, that was it. Now she remembered. She had to go see Urameshi Yusuke for lunch at the Torayuuki Cafe to talk things over. And boy did she have one heck of a bombshell to drop on him. Why couldn't she have stayed blissfully amnestic for just a little longer?

"Kagome-chan? Are you in there?" Keiko's nervous voice called again.

The miko sighed and got up to answer the door, putting on the best smile she could muster as she opened it to see her newest friend standing in the hallway, fidgeting with the hem of her pine green T-shirt. She looked very relieved when Kagome opened the door and motioned her inside, closing it behind them as they went to sit on her one couch next to her work desk in the small living room.

"You wanna talk?" Kagome asked, glancing at the clock. The Torayuuki Cafe wasn't that far from her apartment complex; she could easily make the walk in under ten minutes if she tried. But that still meant that she would have to have Keiko out of her room by 11:50 if she wanted to make it there by noon like she had promised. That gave her forty minuted to entertain Keiko before she had to kick her out.

The school teacher didn't notice that her friend was otherwise preoccupied, as she herself was trying to come up with what to say to properly express how she felt. By the time Kagome was done figuring out her time schedule, Keiko had come up with what she was going to say.

"Kagome-chan, have you ever been so sure of something, so positive that you could do it, and then you go out and try it and your resolve topples like a house of cards?" Kagome blinked at her wording. It was almost... poetic. She didn't get time enough to think over her answer, though, before Keiko continued.

"I always thought I would end up with Yusuke. Even when we were little and I pretended to dislike him, it just seemed like that was what everyone expected of us, so I just felt the same subconsciously. I always thought I was pretty sure of myself when it came to dating and things like that, but looking back, I've never really dated anyone before. I mean, I hung out with Yusuke and everything, but...

"And now that I'm not with him anymore, and I have to try and get to know another person, I'm... I dunno..." She looked down at the hem of her shirt as she began to play with it again, trying to come up with the right word.

"Nervous?" Kagome suggested.

Keiko looked up at her with large brown eyes, watery around the edges. "_Scared_." Kagome nodded in understanding and wrapped her arm around the slightly older woman, giving her a hopefully-comforting side-hug.

"It's not easy, trying to get to know someone new, especially after you've been with one person for so long," she mused, knowing that she would soon be in the same predicament after she came to terms with Inuyasha's death, which she was loath to even think about. She looked down at the brunette leaning against her side, saying softly, "You don't have to start so soon, you know. You can always wait for a while and let everything out before you try and jump back into the world of dating. I know that's what I'd do." _What I am doing._

Keiko sniffled and shook her head. "No, I wouldn't want to stand up my date. Anyway, if it's too much too soon, I can always just tell him I'm not ready to start dating again yet and wait for a while like you said." She smiled gratefully at Kagome, though her eyes were still slightly watery. "Thanks, Kagome-chan. I just really needed to get that out of my system."

Kagome smiled genuinely back at her. "No problem. Just come talk to me whenever you need to get something off your chest," she said, meaning it. She may never have a friend like Sango again, but it was comforting to know that at least she would still have friends.

"Sure!" Keiko agreed, sitting up next to Kagome from where she had formerly been leaning on the woman, shaking her arm off with her sudden bounciness. And that was when Kagome felt it, the out-of-body feeling that accompanied her visions, before the foreign colors flooded her eyes and she saw it, her new friend's death.

An old woman with short gray hair lay in a hospital bed, clutching the thin sheet in frail, shaking hands as she looking lovingly at the seven people that surrounded her. She was saying goodbyes, it seemed, to her two children, their spouses, and her lovely grandchildren before her voice faded away and her eyes dimmed...

Kagome gasped as she was pulled back to reality, sweat coating her brow as she blinked wetly at the familiar apartment around her, expecting to still be in the antiseptic white hospital room, watching a much older version of the friend she knew going to the next world.

"Kagome-chan? Are you all right? You went really still for a moment and looked like you were blind, just staring out at nothing...," Keiko asked, looking worriedly at her friend.

Kagome shook her head to dispel any leftover feelings from her vision, ridding herself of her unshed tears simultaneously, and turned to her friend with a shaky smile. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, Keiko-chan," she said, knowing she didn't sound very convincing.

Keiko raised an eyebrow but let it slide, as she could tell Kagome really didn't want to think about it right now. "All right. I'm leaving at five, so if you want to talk, make sure you come see me before then, okay? But you can always come to me if you need to say something, Kagome-chan. Everyone needs to talk sometimes."

With a sigh, Kagome nodded her agreement. "Hai, hai... So, do you still need some shoes?" she asked with a smirk, purposefully changing the subject.

Keiko blushed slightly before laughing and shaking her head. "Naw, I'll just wear some flip-flops," she said with a wide grin.

"Ooh, classy," Kagome commented playfully as Keiko laughed out of her apartment and Kagome bid her good luck. She turned to look at the clock, surprised to find that it was already 11:45. Time sure does go fast when you're pouring your soul out.

~o~o~

"Ha! So she's already over me, is she? Doesn't surprise me; that - "

"No, no, that's not what I said!" Kagome interrupted, quickly becoming exasperated with her youkai partner. "I _said_ that she had a date tonight. But it was her mother that arranged it for her once she found out that you two had split up. She actually talked to me before I came here and told me that she was nervous for this date. I don't think she really wants to go, but she doesn't want to be rude."

It was quiet for a moment as the two contemplated that, Kagome just glad that Yusuke had finally decided to stop arguing with her. The young woman sighed, wondering if she was doing the right thing. _I want to help him, but I don't think Keiko-chan really wants to get back together with him,_ she thought, glancing at him over her lemon water. _And I want to help her, too. So if they want completely different things, how am I supposed to help them both?_

That was the predicament that she was faced with. Did she help Yusuke recover their relationship and probably hurt Keiko in the process? Or help Keiko move on and leave Yusuke feeling betrayed and possibly suicidal?

Kagome shook her head and looked back to Yusuke, who was staring into space again, thinking. "Okay, so what do you want to do?" she asked, picking up her slippery glass with two gloved hands and sipping from her straw. After the incident with Keiko in the apartment, she had made sure to cover every possible inch of her skin with cloth to prevent a repeat. She had gotten too comfortable, and had payed the price for it.

Yusuke slowly shook his head, turning back to look into her sapphire eyes. "I dunno. I thought you were the one with all the great plans."

Kagome scowled at his sarcastic comment, rolling her eyes at him. "Yeah, well, contrary to popular belief, I don't know everything, so I need you to help me out here," she said, taking another sip of water. Damn, it was hot in all those clothes. "What do you want? Just answer that."

Yusuke sighed and stared at her for a moment before answering. "I just want to know if I need to stay here anymore or if my time is up."

Kagome nodded again, trying not to choke on her water. _Okay, so he needs a reason to live, and Keiko needs a more caring and present boyfriend. Is that possible?_

_I sure hope so_, she thought as a familiar aura rounded the corner of the street and she looked up to see him from her position at the outside cafe table...

~o~o~

"You're sure it's her?"

"I checked her myself. There's no way there could be a mistake."

A sigh was heard throughout the office, partially filled with relief and partially with anticipation. "Good. We need to close this case as soon as possible. When can you have her in here?"

"Three days, tops."

"Hn..." The being contemplated that for a moment. Could it not be done sooner?

"Actually," another voice interjected, drawing the attention of the other two. "I know how we can get her here by tonight..."

~o~o~o~o~

All right, here's your stinkin' chapter. Now stop asking. -.-;

Naw, I love you guys, and I really appreciate each and every review I get. ^^ By the way, this story officially has forty-seven reviews. Why is forty-seven so special, you ask? Only because it's my favorite number ever! XD But yeah, rant over now. ^^ And if you still want to guess at what species Shippou is, though we haven't really seen much of him lately, I'll give you one last hint:

HE'S NOT A RED FOX!

XD There. Now go flock to Wikipedia, my minions. Muahahahaha!

Okay, now I don't have the patience to look back at everything I used, but if anyone has any questions as to what the Japanese terms used in this story are, just send me a review and I'll get right back to you on that. ^^

Final note, this is un-beta'd and I plan to keep it that way, but if anyone has any legitimate complaints about my spelling or grammar in the story, please just tell me and I'll fix it right up. ^^ Thanks and enjoy!


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